siskins a-plenty

There are two or three flocks of between 3 and 5 dozen Pine Siskins roving the upland marsh edge in the morning. As I come sauntering by, they fly up from the High Tide Bushes (or wherever it is that they are feeding) and into the branches of an adjacent tree -- usually an almost bare oak which now sports a crop of siskins instead of crumpled oak leaves. As they fly, you can hear their characteristic twitter -- sometimes even before you can see the birds. Whereas earlier there were many Am Goldfinches as well -- sometimes mixed in, sometimes in separate little flocks -- goldfinch numbers are now way down, leaving the field to the siskin flocks.

There's a Sharp-shinned Hawk or two in the area. One apparently succeeded in separating one of the siskins from the flock and was chasing it out over the pond. I suspect that it would have caught the poor thing if I hadn't been standing there. Oddly enough, a noisy Kingfisher, came shooting by at the same time (a rather bold move, I would have thought). These distractions were enough to let the siskin escape. The hawk darted back into the woods and then reappeared (it or another one) on the other side of the marsh -- still looking for dinner, no doubt.

Rocky Raccoon (or Rocky, Jr.) has been up on his Pitch Pine sleeping post for the past two days, his striped tail dangling down one side and his masked snout visible on the other. A young male Virginia Deer has been hanging around the house to the dog's intense displeasure. This animal (the deer, that is, not the dog) has become so inured to both human and canine presence that it simply looks around as if curious as to what all the fuss may be. I have to go out and practically kick in the rear to get it to trot away.

Eric Salzman